All quite true, but from having been there I don't want to forget lots of knuckle-busting and improvization on the part of maintenance. The sheet metal work would have been pretty straightforward but everything else required k-balling or resorting to a torturously-long and complex supply chain, and a lot of jury-rigging until what you needed arrived via Klong Express. It all started with tech training at Shepard AFB, TX where the mechs went to school. Having some WWII-era and Korean War era old-timers on the flight line helped too. They knew hexes and fixes the younger mechanics - and engineering officers - never heard of. Although it doesn't pertain to the B-26, here's an example - I knew of an instance where some pilots were complaining about noise from the 20mm cannon muzzles under the noses of their F-100s. For some reason buffeting caused by the placement of the muzzles also comes to mind. I do remember the noise angle. There was an old TSgt who heard them talking and told them to hang on for a few minutes, he'd be right back. He disappeared in the flight's pickup truck and returned about 15 minutes later with some golf tees. He then told them to tape them in the gun muzzles prior to engine start. They kept the air from going down the gun barrels, which was causing the noises they were complaining about. I suppose having the tee behind it also kept the tape from tearing due to wind blast. Obviously if the weapons were fired they were blown out, but if no shots were fired (not every CAS sortie required strafing) the pilots would have a more harmonious trip around S. Vietnam and a little more peaceful flight, I suppose.
BTW a good place to catch a catnap on the flight line, without being readily seen, was in the F-100's intake. If you found someone bagging some ZZZs in there, you could quietly climb into the cockpit and activate just about anything in there using the aircraft's battery, for a few seconds - which would produce a noise and lead to a hasty - and profane - exit from the intake.
I'm thinking of making this my avatar . . .
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